


Amal's Birthday One-Shots~

by Transient_Reality



Category: multiple - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-21
Updated: 2018-07-31
Packaged: 2019-05-09 22:12:21
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14724524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Transient_Reality/pseuds/Transient_Reality
Summary: A collection of one-shots written for and presented to my dear friend Amal <3





	1. My Youth is Yours

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AngelicAmal](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AngelicAmal/gifts).



**"Youth"  
Troye Sivan**

_What if, what if we ran away?_  
_What if, what if we left today?_  
_What if we said goodbye to safe and sound?_

Shoto was running.  
His bare feet pounded across the field, sinking into the sun-drenched soil in the brief moments they touched the earth before flinging him forward once again. Sensations bombarded his senses. The soft summer breeze whipped against his arms and face as he bolted, ruffling his hair as well. The golden grasses of the field whipped against his fingers and legs as he raced. They should have hurt, but he was too distracted. The breath tore at his lungs and his arms burned, but he didn't stop. The only sensation that mattered to him, however, was his hand, woven tightly with hers as they raced through the field.  
She was laughing, and Shoto was certain he had never heard a sweeter sound in his life. He tossed a glance over his shoulder. She was running behind him, hair streaming in the wind, the sun glinting through her thick locks. Her leaf-green eyes were alight, glinting like jewels. she had worn a dress, a soft violet number that fell to her knees. It suited her. He thought she had never looked more beautiful to him.  
"It's just down here," he panted, pointing toward a line of trees standing sentinel around the edge of the field. Amal laughed behind him.  
"Why are we running?"  
"I need to show you!"  
Tugging her along, he led her to the line of trees and finally, they slowed. Their panting filling the stillness as they pushed into the line of foliage, Shoto led the way, lighting his left hand on fire as they entered the murky glumness of the forest.  
"How did you even find this place?"  
"I was camping with Bakugo and Midoriya," Shoto answered, pushing aside a branch and helping her over a lumpy branch on the forest floor. "We were hiking, and Bakugo was complaining, as he always does. We stumbled upon it. I think you'll like it."  
"What is _it,_ exactly?"  
Shoto winked.  
"You'll see."

_What if, what if we're hard to find?_  
_What if, what if we lost our minds?_  
_What if we let them fall behind and they're never found?_

Shoto, still barefoot, led her through the forest. Birds chattered and chirped in the canopy above their heads, and Amal stopped periodically to watch them as they flickered through the branches, their rainbow hues flashing like fairy lights overhead. Shoto stopped once to point out a deer and her fawn, standing a football field's distance away and watching them warily. Vines hung from the trees around them and needles and leaves crunched underfoot. Ferns covered the forest floor like a tropical carpet. The soil was warm to the touch on the bottoms of their feet. Amal forgot that he was leading her somewhere until he spoke, melting the silence between them.  
"It's just up here."  
Finally, he pushed through a small ridge of bushes and held the branches aside to allow her through. She liked the glint in his eyes, how proud and excited he seemed. She patted his broad chest as she passed him. He was wearing the dark gray T-shirt she loved, it was soft when she hugged him. She pushed past him and stepped into the area beyond the bushes, and gasped.  
It was a small hidden grotto, a sort of hidden cavern. Beyond the ridge of bushes, a slope of pebbled beach gently lowered until it was cut off by a bubbling brook. At the end of the brook was a massive pool, colored a deep sapphire. Rainbow-tinted rocks lined the edges of the pool. At one end of the pool, a sharp cliff face rose abruptly, and a clattering waterfall tumbled over the edge into the pool.  
"It's like a secret grotto!" Amal breathed, taking a few timid steps toward the pool. She heard a rustle and Shoto joined her, nodding and gazing around.  
"I thought you might like to swim here for a little bit," he said, stepping away from her and offering his hand, smiling a bit as he approached the water.

_And when the lights start flashing like a photobooth_  
_And the stars exploding, we'll be fireproof_

Shoto rose through the warm water and burst from the surface, rivulets streaming down his face and back. He felt drops patter from his two-toned hair and he reached to flick water from his eyes. Droplets from his hair and skin flicked through the air, glistening in rainbow colors before rejoining the pool. He looked around for Amal.  
"Agh!"  
A pair of arms embraced him from behind and he laughed as Amal knocked him forward, wrapping her legs around his torso from behind and wrapping her arms around his shoulders, pressing a kiss to his neck.  
"That wasn't fair!"  
Amal laughed in his ear.  
"What are you going to do about it?"  
With a smirk, Shoto stood abruptly, tilting her back so she crashed back into the water. She rose again, laughing.  
"Fair enough!"

_My youth, my youth is yours_  
_Trippin' on skies, sippin' waterfalls_  
_My youth, my youth is yours_  
_Run away now and forevermore_  
_My youth, my youth is yours_  
_A truth so loud you can't ignore_  
_My youth, my youth, my youth, my youth is yours_

Resting on the tiny pebbles of the shore of the pool, Amal turned to gaze at Shoto. He had just risen from the pool, running his fingers through his hair and sending streams of droplets showering forth. Her eyes slid over his red-and-white hair, his two-toned eyes, down his cheeks and thin neck to his broad chest and thick, muscular arms. He had thin hips and muscled legs. She sighed to herself, content.  
Shoto lowered himself to the shore and reached for her hand, laying facing her. He twined their fingers together and nudged her foot with his.  
"Tired already?"  
"Just taking a break."  
Shoto chuckled and his eyes searched her face.  
"Do you like it?"  
"Are you kidding? I love it here. I wish we could stay here forever."  
"Yeah, me too," Shoto turned over to lay on his back, his hand still twined with hers. He gazed up at the canopy of leaves above them, thoughtful.  
"You know, I've been thinking."  
"Mmm. A dangerous pursuit."  
Shoto chuckled, then grew soft and serious again.  
"We've been together for a while now. What, like five years? Six?"  
"Five, but six next February."  
"Okay. So five years. And...I think I'd really like to start taking us more seriously."  
Amal blinked and turned to look at him.  
"What do you mean? Like...marriage?"  
Shoto was quiet for a long time, eyes flicking across the forest canopy before he answered.  
"Sort of, yeah. But not quite that, not yet. I'm thinking...kind of like a pre-engagement. Consider this a promise."  
He turned toward her, eyes flaring.  
"I promise I will devote my entire self to you, and only to you." He reached across and touched her cheek, his fingers warm and soft to the touch. She searched his eyes. Their faces were very near to one another. She could smell the sweat on him. "You're all I'll ever want. So I'm promising you that one day, sometime soon, I _will_ propose. You're the only person I ever want to be with."

 _What if, what if we start to drive,_  
_What if, what if we close our eyes?_  
_What if we're speeding through red lights into paradise?_  
_Cause we've no time for getting old_  
_Mortal body, timeless soul_  
_Cross your fingers, here we go_

As he drove them home, the windows down, his shirt off, still barefoot with their shoes slung across the backseat, he gazed across to her sitting in the passenger seat. She had her window down, letting the hot wind from the highway rush through her side of the car, and she was leaning against the door, singing loudly to the radio. A smile stretched across her face, the wind whipped her hair through the air in the car like a wild river. Holding the steering wheel with one hand, he reached across and took her left hand in his right. She twined her fingers through his and squeezed his hand, leaning across to kiss his cheek.

_And when the lights start flashing like a photobooth_  
_And the stars exploding, we'll be fireproof_

That night, they hovered around a campfire in their backyard. The flames flicked over the fresh wood inside the pit. Amal sat near to Shoto. He laughed at something one of their friends said and his movement caused their bare legs to touch. His skin was warm. She threaded her fingers with his and leaned against his side. He smelled like sweat, the smoke from the fire and the water from the pool from earlier.

 _My youth, my youth is yours_  
_Trippin' on skies, sippin' waterfalls_  
_My youth, my youth is yours_  
_Run away now or forevermore_  
_My youth, my youth is yours_  
_A truth so loud you can't ignore_  
_My youth, my youth, my youth, my youth is yours_

That night, he lay beside her and watched her sleep before he dropped off himself. She was exhausted, the lines in her face deepened in her slumber. Her breathing was soft and even, the thin sheet covering her rising and falling in pattern with her breathing. He felt her soft breaths just tickle the skin of his cheek. He reached and stroked her hair and she mumbled in her sleep. He smiled to himself and closed his eyes, leaving his hand where it lay.

 _My youth, my youth is yours_  
_Trippin' on skies, sippin' waterfalls_  
_My youth, my youth is yours_  
_Run away now or forevermore_  
_My youth, my youth is yours_  
_A truth so loud you can't ignore_  
_My youth, my youth, my youth, my youth is yours_


	2. Say You Won't Let Go

Goro tapped his chin thoughtfully as he swiped a dainty finger over his phone screen, humming thoughtfully to himself. The general hustle and bustle and busy murmurs of the coffee shop behind him were nothing but white noise, so deep in thought was he.  
Casework had been piling up by the truckload lately, it seemed like, and he had been swamped with work, between investigations, questionings, and analysis of evidence. Sometimes it felt like he barely had space or time to take a breath, let alone a break, but luckily he had managed to swipe some time today for lunch with his girlfriend.  
Amal.  
He had been neglecting her, he knew he had. He also knew it upset her, though she would never admit it to him or even to herself. But he had seen the lonely, disappointed look in her eyes whenever he had to turn down a dinner date or cancel plans because of work, and he was determined to make it up to her in whatever way he needed. But first, he needed to lighten his workload.  
He reached for his coffee cup and took a deep sip as a voice behind him spoke.  
"Busy as ever, I see."  
Goro turned his head to see a bright-eyed young woman with shoulder-length brunette hair and shining blue eyes. She was holding the hand of a tall young man with dark blue hair and steely blue-gray eyes. Yusuke nodded to Goro when Goro turned around.  
"Ah, April, Yusuke, lovely to see you."  
"Good to see you too, Goro," April said, as Yusuke passed them to speak to the woman at the counter, gesturing toward a pile of strawberry-laced pastries, which Goro recognized as April's favorites. "We just stopped by to pick up some pastries for our picnic in the park today. Waiting for Amal?"  
Goro nodded.  
"Well, we won't keep you," April winked as Yusuke returned with a small white bag and pressed a paper cup of tea into her hand. "Have fun!"  
She waved playfully at him and Yusuke nodded as the couple departed the shop. Goro chuckled to himself. They seemed a strange pair at first glance (they definitely had to him) but after knowing them and seeing them together for nearly three years now, he easily spotted the attraction between the two. They were perfect for one another.  
He turned back to his phone and sifted through emails in his inbox, sipping his coffee, until another familiar voice spoke behind him.  
"Goro?"  
This voice was far more expected and awaited than the last. Goro turned with a warm smile.  
"Amal."  
She was dressed adorably, which was no surprise to him. She usually was. She wore a close-fitting light blue blouse with slender dark blue jeans, and a sweatshirt he recognized as his own. He chuckled.  
"You look very nice," he said warmly, taking her hand and kissing her knuckle in their customary greeting. Amal blushed, which pleased him.  
"Thank you."  
She lifted herself into one of the stools and sat close beside him. He waved the girl behind the counter over to order Amal a cup of raspberry tea, not too strong, just the way she liked it. She sipped it and set it aside.  
"I brought you something," she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Goro tapped his finger on the counter and chuckled.  
"A gift? For me?"  
Amal reached into her floral-print bag and pulled out a small white box, clearly from a jewelry store, wrapped in a bright red bow. She slid it across the counter to him and smiled.  
Tugging the ribbon until it was undone, Goro flipped open the cover of the box and blinked, his eyes widening.  
Inside the box was a tiny, delicate golden necklace. The charm rested gently on a bed of red silk.  
It was a tiny, tiny magnifying glass, fashioned in gold, with a real magnifier in the glass portion. Eyes wide, Goro lifted the fragile necklace from the box and held it to the light, marveling at the way it shone.  
"Oh Amal, it's lovely," he said, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. Amal smiled softly and reached forward to fashion the necklace around his neck. He checked to make certain it hung outside his clothes and gave her a swift peck on the lips. "Thank you."

That evening, Goro was hard at work at his computer, the necklace hanging around his neck, when his phone jingled with a familiar jaunty pop tune. He smiled behind his hand when he recognized it as April's text tone.  
_My dude, you are in some deep shit._  
Goro blinked. He tapped a response.  
_Excuse me?_  
The response was almost immediate.  
_Have you given any particular thought as to what the date is today?_  
Goro tapped his chin thoughtfully. May 15th. He peered at the home screen of his phone. His brain had the strange tickle he felt when there was something significant he was forgetting, and clearly, there was, or April wouldn't be scolding him, but he couldn't quite place his finger on what it was he'd forgotten.  
_Forgive me, I seem to have had a momentary lapse in memory. Is it your birthday or something? Happy birthday!_  
_No, you dolt. Did you tell Amal happy anniversary today?_  
Goro dropped his phone.

That was it. He'd forgotten. He'd completely forgotten. What with the investigations and other jobs tying him up at work, he'd been so busy-minded lately that the day he and Amal had officially become a couple had completely slipped his mind.  
Goro paced the kitchen floor in his sock feet, fingers cupping his chin.  
_What am I going to do? I didn't say a **word** to her about it today, and I certainly didn't get her a gift...a GIFT. That explains the necklace! I AM AN IDIOT._  
He paused, frozen, deep in thought.  
_I need to do something special, something really beautiful and meaningful, to make up for this. She might never forgive me but at least I can try to make it up to her, right? But what? What should I do? Should I get her something? No...it's too late for that now. A simple gift will not suffice, I need to **do** something, but what?_

There was a soft knock at Goro's door.  
"Just a moment!"  
Goro, dressed in a simple white button-up shirt and gray pants, was just putting the finishing touches on his gift for Amal. He finished with a flourish and darted to the door. He smoothed his shirt and took a deep breath before opening the door. He beamed when he saw his precious, dark-haired girlfriend standing upon the front step, smiling at him.  
"Goro."  
She hugged him. She smelled of berries and cream, a scent that made Goro smile. It was one of her favorites, a lotion and soap scent she had discovered a few years prior while shopping with April. It was a smell he had come to associate with her. It was a comforting scent.  
"You sounded so nervous when we spoke on the phone, it scared me," she said, stepping into the kitchen of Goro's apartment and stepping out of her shoes. "Are you alright?"  
Goro nodded, looking her up and down and thanking the heavens for her existence in his life for what felt like the millionth time. He took her hands.  
"I want to show you something. Cover your eyes."  
He led her through the kitchen, carefully avoiding pointed edges and ledges until she stood in the middle of the living room.  
"Can I look yet?"  
"Not yet."  
He carefully plugged in the lights and turned down the main lights. He shuffled around the room, preparing things, then moved to stand beside her and take her hands.  
"Okay, open them."  
She moved her hands away from her eyes and gasped. Goro took her hands and smiled as she gazed around the room.  
He had transformed his living room into a den devoted to her. There were candles set upon nearly every flat surface, all lit. Peering closer, she could see they were all a mix of floral and vanilla scents, filling the room with a sweet, gentle mixture of calming and warming sensations. The candles twinkled in her peripheral vision as she saw he had pulled his furniture back to set out two massive, squishy-looking beanbag chairs, one a dark violet and one black. Between the chairs stood a small table with a massive bowl of chips upon it. A large bowl of melted cheese sat beside the bowl of chips. The television was on, and she could see the menu of a Gone With the Wind DVD on the screen.  
The room was dark, and Goro had strung wires of purple fairy lights along the top of the ceiling. They twinkled as much as the candles did as she gazed around the room.  
Finally, her eyes returned to Goro. She had tiny tears in her eyes.  
"You did all this for me?"  
Goro nodded, a small smile on his lips. He brushed a lock of hair from her face and frowned.  
"I forgot our anniversary," he said sorrowfully. "I-I...I cannot forgive myself for that. You truly are the most important person in the world to me, and I cannot live with the idea that I, even for a moment, forgot anything about you. Especially something that important." He cleared his throat and looked away, then back at her, looking determined. "So I wanted to do something to remind you that I _do_ pay attention to you."  
Amal gestured toward the room.  
"I never told you about any of these things," she said, awed.  
Goro shook his head.  
"You never had to."  
He nodded to the candles. "Every time I'm in your room, I see your candles are these scents. I figured they must be your favorites."  
He gestured toward the nachos sitting upon the small table. "You always ask for these when we have a movie night, and-" he pointed at the film on the television. "That is the film you request most often."  
He nodded toward the lights twinkling at the ceiling. "And those are just because I thought they'd look nice."  
Amal chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck, curling her fingers in his hair and gazing into his eyes. He held her waist and pressed his forehead to hers.  
"I never want you to think I don't pay attention to you, Amal," he said quietly. "Or that I don't notice things about you. I notice everything about you. All the time. I'm always watching you when we're together because you fascinate me. You fascinate me with everything you do, but most of all because you are you, and you are mine, and I love you."  
He kissed her warmly.  
"I'm sorry."  
Amal chuckled and kissed him sweetly.  
"I forgive you," she said with a chuckle, her eyes sparkling. "Now, out of my way, pretty boy. There are nachos to eat."


	3. Best Friends Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was National Best Friends Day a little while ago here in America, so I thought I'd give you a special gift since you've been such a wonderful best friend all these years. <3

Amal was busy working on her laptop when her phone lit up with a soft chiming sound. Her eyes flashed from the illuminated screen before her to the smaller screen to her left and she felt a smile tug at the corners of her lips.   
_New text message from: April_ , the screen read. Amal lifted her phone and swiped to unlock it, flicking the tiny bubble of her messaging feature. Her current conversations filled the screen and she chuckled as her most recent conversation with Shoto caught her eye. The preview showed a long list of heart and kissing face emojis, sent from her to Shoto right before he had left for the day. Amal tapped the one indicating her best friend's name.  
 _Hey! What are you doing today?_ the message read. Beside the chat bubble, a tiny image of a smiling Shiba inu puppy greeted Amal. This was April's new puppy, Boomer, who she was so proud of (and who had started causing a ruckus in the lives of both her and her boyfriend Katsuki nearly immediately). She was utterly proud of the new addition to her life and had his tiny face plastered on nearly every surface of her social media accounts. Even now, Amal recalled a proud image of the tiny dog with his new parents serving as the cover photo for April's Facebook profile.  
Amal tapped out a quick reply.  
 _Not much. Shoto's out of town doing some work for UA so it's just me here. Why, what's up?_  
The reply was nearly immediate.   
_Awesome. You wanna spend the day with me? Katsu's having a man's day with Eijiro and they took our baby with them._  
Amal chuckled. "Their baby." Already April was calling the puppy that.   
_Sure._  
 _Sweet. I'll be there in ten._

Sure enough, in just over ten minutes, the jubilant chime of the front doorbell rang through the house. Amal rose from the table and went to open the door.  
April stood on the front step, beaming. Her long, glossy brunette hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail, tied with a bright pink band. She wore a cute, soft pink sweatshirt with a white hood and sleeves and tight dark jeans. The right breast of the jacket had a pocket, and embossed on the pocket was the symbol of April's heroism: a vertical rectangle placed over a circle with two slash marks over the whole thing. The icon had been the result of a fan contest April had run when she had decided she wanted a new symbol for herself. It was meant to resemble the helmet of the suit she wore while fighting villains and the two slashes were to symbolize her lack of a quirk.  
Amal smiled when she greeted her friend.  
"Hey April," she said, stepping back to allow her friend to step inside the house.   
April gently kicked her bright pink sandals onto the rug inside the door.  
"Hey hey," she said gleefully.  
"Nice sweatshirt," Amal mused, examining the article. "Did you make it?"  
April nodded enthusiastically and turned in a slow circle so Amal could admire the shirt from all angles. On the back, across the shoulders, was embossed April's hero name: Ditto, the Quirkless Hero. April chuckled as she turned back around.  
"I don't wear normal clothes or a normal outfit when I fight crime," she explained, "so a lot of people think I'm just a regular fan wearing merchandise until they look closer."  
She laughed good-naturedly and Amal smiled a bit. Her friend was so calm and modest. In truth, April had gained quite a bit of fame after becoming the first quirkless person to become a true hero without a quirk.  
You see, since they were in high school, April had been designing ever-evolving versions of what she lovingly called her "Quirk Suit." It was a slim, slender metallic suit that fit easily over April's thin form. It also had a helmet that narrowed to a point at the top, giving the visual effect of a raindrop when viewed from the side. It featured a violet-colored visor, fastened to the helmet with two large silver knobs on the sides. The knob on the right side of the helmet was colored black and silver. The black parts of the knob featured small slots.   
April could input small drives (called "cores") into these slots. Each core contained information to make the suit perform a particular quirk. At any given time, April could press one of these cores into activity, and the suit would make the necessary modifications to use that quirk.  
For instance, she could load four different cores into the suit, and have the potential to use a quirk that let her blast explosions from her fingertips, a quirk allowing her to fire a laser from the stomach of the suit, a quirk allowing her to fire ice from one hand and flame from the other, or a quirk allowing the suit to have sticky feet and hands and a long, elastic tongue to protrude from the mouth of the helmet. If she pressed one of these cores into action, she could use the quirk as much as she liked, but she could only use one at a time.  
This was the origin of her hero name: "Ditto," meaning "me too." She had chosen the name after long consideration.  
"It has dual meanings," she had explained to her friends when announcing her decision. "Not only does it mean that I can use all of your quirks too, but it also means that _I, too, can be a hero, even without a natural quirk._ "  
Amal had to admit she was proud of her friend. Not only had April become a successful hero in the years following high school, but she had gained a modest following and fame because of the unusual nature of her heroism. Amal was proud to be her best friend.  
It was no surprise, really, that April had developed such a sophisticated suit to fight crime. She had been on the development and sewing team that provided the costumes for new heroes at UA for many years (even while she was in high school herself!) and was constantly tinkering with fabric, metal and other materials to develop new and better costumes for her friends.  
"I'm sorry for the short notice," April said, leaning against the counter of the kitchen and smiling, the edge of her lip turned up, bracing her arm against the counter as she gazed across at Amal, "but I realized something while I was at home browsing on my phone. It's National Best Friends Day in America."  
Amal tilted her head.  
"You have an entire day just to celebrate having a best friend?" she said, her eyes wide with amazement. April snorted.  
"Yeah. Funny, right? But this comes from the same place as, like, National Hot Dog Day and National Donut Day..." April tapped her chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, why are most of the national holidays I know about related to food?" She snorted again. "Anyway, I saw that it was National Best Friends Day and I wanted to spend it with my best friend!" She beamed. "I have a few ideas in mind, you ready to go?"

An hour later, the girls strolled down the sun-strewn main street of the city. April swung a shopping bag on her right arm, babbling giddily to Amal as she licked a tall chocolate ice cream cone. Amal licked her own mint chocolate cone and listened to her friend, clutching her own shopping bag as they walked.  
"I'm trying to train him to sit up on his back paws," April was saying. She was talking about her dog again, which Amal didn't mind. She did love hearing stories about the cute dog and April loved talking about him. It made her happy, so Amal was content. "It's not easy because he gets too excited to see mine or Katsu's face, so he gets back down on his four paws and runs to us." She laughed and took a lick of her ice cream. "But he'll learn. I taught Katsu how to be gentle, I can teach Boomer how to sit up." She laughed again.  
"So where are we headed next?" Amal asked, tossing the wrapper for her ice cream cone into a garbage as they passed. April did the same and began skipping next to Amal.   
"I was hoping we could...maybe...visit the Hero Museum," April said with a small giggle.   
Amal chuckled a bit.   
A few weeks prior, a museum celebrating the history of great heroes had opened an exhibit featuring April and her Quirkless Hero exploits. April had visited the museum often since the opening.  
"I just need to remind myself it's here," she would explain every time, even if no one had asked. No one minded. "That this is all real, it's all happening. And...people really believe in me. A lot of people, for the first time. It all feels like a dream, and this helps me remember it's real."  
Now, April held a finger up and shook her head.   
"It's not to go to the exhibit," she said, her eyes shining. "I actually...I want to visit the AllMight exhibit, actually."  
Amal tilted her head up a bit, narrowing her eyes in interest at her friend. She wondered about the purpose of this trip.

The lobby of the museum was quiet as they entered. It was the middle of the school day, so most parents and children were at work or school. There were a handful of people milling about some of the exhibits, but April marched right past them and up the escalator to the second floor.  
She cast her eyes about the museum.  
The walls were made of glistening glass, the better to allow the brilliant light of the sun to shine upon the exhibits. The light fell upon hero costumes in varying degrees of disarray, from fully formed and barely-used mint condition costumes to tiny, worn, faded pieces of cloth, the only remnants of a costume long shredded and destroyed. There were many other relics of heroes past here as well: debris from important battles, newspaper clippings, plaques, autographs, photographs, books, and all sorts of merchandise lined the walls of the museum's exhibits. There was even artwork, like paintings and statues of the most well-known heroes.  
The two girls approached a large room on the upper floor. A golden plaque above the door announced that it was the "AllMight Hall."  
This room was dedicated entirely to the number one hero. A large white marble statue of the man himself dominated the center of the room. His image had his hands on his hips and was giving the room a heroic smile behind his mask, muscles frozen in a stony ripple. Artwork and fanart covered the walls. Glass cases displayed various mementos of the man, including his time teaching at UA.   
It was to this case that April crossed, her steps echoing loudly across the white marble floor. When she reached the glass, she pressed her fingers to it and peered inside.  
There was a list of the class roster (Amal immediately picked Shoto, Katsuki and her own name from the list), a handful of textbooks and even some examples of classwork done by the students themselves. There was a page from the yearbook featuring all their photos (Amal wondered if her smile looked lopsided to everyone else or just to her), a signed photograph of AllMight's image at the time, and small medals and awards he had won during his time as a teacher.  
Amal looked up from the memorabilia in the case and at her friend, who was staring steadily down into the glass. Was it Amal's imagination, or did her friend look slightly saddened? She reached across and touched her friend's shoulder. April seemed to jump a bit, startled from her reverie. She smiled a bit sadly at her friend.  
"Sorry. I was just thinking."   
She gestured to the things in the case and then turned to indicate the room as a whole.  
"There are times... _many_ times when I wish I had been a student at UA," she said softly, her voice barely echoing around the chamber. Amal watched her friend. April's eyes were contemplative and melancholy as she dropped her hand. "I know already that my time for studying under a hero like AllMight is passed. Some people would say, even, that I already know everything there is to know about being a hero. I'm the Quirkless Hero, after all, everyone knows me, right?" She smiled a bit bitterly and turned back to the case. She pointed at the photos from the yearbook. "You all have such wonderful memories being in that class together." She chuckled a bit. "I know, I sound like I'm whining again and I'm sorry. I don't mean to. I was just thinking, I wish I had had the ability to have those memories with you, you know?" She lifted her eyes and smiled a bit. "But at the same time...I'm thankful. Not just thankful to know you, and Shoto, and Katsu, and everyone else, but thankful that things have happened the way that they have. That I was able to go to Paris, and to the camp, and all kinds of places with you and the others. Thankful that we met, thankful that I met Shoto, who I can't imagine life without. Thankful I met Cupcake..." Her voice trailed off, her eyes fond as she thought of the cute nickname she called Katsuki just to annoy him. "For all of you. I'm just really grateful for all that you all have done for me throughout the years."  
Amal softened and pressed into her friend's side, wrapping an arm around her to embrace her.  
"You may not have been a part of our class," she said slowly and carefully, "but you were always a part of our family."  
April looked at her with wide eyes, as though asking if this were true. Amal smiled encouragingly and nodded.  
"I mean it. You're as much a hero as any of us are or were. You always have been. Whether or not you have a quirk has never mattered to any of us, you know that." She smiled. "The first time I heard Shoto listing off all his friends and he included me, it gave me this sort of warm, drizzly feeling in my chest. That's how I feel when you list me as your friend too. Because you might think that it's _we_ who have done a lot for _you_ , but you've done a lot for us as well. Mostly...given us hope."  
"How have I done that?"  
"You remember when Katsuki was kidnapped?"  
Amal saw April's eyes darken a bit. She knew her friend didn't like being reminded of the time her boyfriend had been kidnapped by villains in an attempt to turn him over to their side, but she continued hastily.  
"You never, _never_ gave up hope that he would never turn over to the villain's side. You never once stopped believing that we would be able to save him, even when we were a small group of students hiding against a wall listening to AllMight and Katsuki being beaten up by villains. Even then, you believed he would be returned safely to us." Amal nodded her head at the AllMight room. "If you ask me, and probably if you ask AllMight, too, that's one of the most important traits of being a hero, I think. Having a steadfast and strong belief that everything will be okay, having that hope, that desire to change the world for the better and keep it that way, that drives all of us. And you've definitely got that, so who is anyone else to say you're not as much a hero as any one of us?"  
When Amal finished her statement, she turned toward her friend to see tears flecking the edges of her eyes.   
"Oh Amal," April drew her arms around her friend and buried her face in her neck, sniffling. "Thank you. I didn't even know I needed to hear those words. Thank you."

The two spent the rest of the day together. They saw a film at the theater (a film they had both been pretty excited about, "The Zen Hero," starring an actor both of them loved, Hyun Ryu), grabbed dinner in a fine restaurant overlooking the city, and finished the evening sharing a small bag of animal-shaped pastries and sitting upon a hillside near the town, gazing up at the stars.  
"I'm really glad we did this," April said, plucking a tiny penguin-shaped pastry from the bag and nibbling its toes. "It feels like forever since the last time we spent the day together without the boys along."  
Amal nodded and reached into the bag, choosing a small cat-shaped pastry. She broke it in half and examined the mystery filling inside before taking a bite. Strawberry. She chewed thoughtfully as she gazed about the hillside. Fireflies were beginning to blink to life in the grasses surrounding the small violet blanket they sat upon.  
April laid down on the blanket with a sigh, tucking her arms behind her head as she swallowed the last bite of her pastry. Her eyes reflected the stars above. She glanced at Amal, who was reaching for the small mug of tea she had brought with. April's eyes lingered upon the glistening silver ring on her best friend's finger.  
"Congratulations, Amal," she said, her voice warm in the late spring air. Amal smiled in the darkness, then realized April probably couldn't see her reaction.  
"Thank you."  
"Have you chosen a date yet?"  
"We're thinking sometime in winter, but we haven't decided for sure."  
"Ah, well," April ran a hand through her hair and crossed her legs over the blanket, taking a swig of the blueberry lemonade she had brought. "You still have plenty of time."  
Amal sensed her friend had more to say, but she allowed the silence to creep on as the crickets began to chirp around them. She took another drink of tea. The evening air was warm and humid, curling around their shoulders and legs like mist. April had removed her jacket and tossed it aside long ago, revealing the soft pink ruffled shirt she wore beneath it.   
"I've been thinking about my future with Katsu," April said, breaking the silence. Amal paused in breaking apart another pastry, this one shaped like a rabbit. It was blueberry inside. She handed it to April, who bit it thoughtfully.  
"Yeah? And what have you been thinking about?"  
April chewed contemplatively.  
"I'd like to marry him," she said finally, swallowing the pastry. Amal felt a happy glow grow in her chest.  
"I should think so."  
April turned her head to gaze at her friend.  
"There's just the problem of wondering when...and sometimes even _if_ , he's going to ask," she said with a sigh. "Like, we love each other. We love each other as much as you and Shoto love each other, I can see it every single day when we're together. It's in his eyes, in the way he talks to me and touches me. But we've been together for so long and..." She propped herself up on an elbow. "You wanna know something? Every time I ask Katsu about the future, he goes on and on about how he's working to become the best hero, how he wants so badly to be the number one hero and show everyone and become the best person he can be, for me. Which is sweet and exciting for him. And he's always so excited and hopeful when he talks about it. But..." She lowered herself again and gazed at the stars, her eyes flicking across the night sky. "I don't think he gets what I mean. I always let him continue because he's so excited and enthusiastic about it, but..." She bit her lip. "Sometimes I'd like to talk about _our_ future." She looked at Amal. "You know what I mean? Especially since you and Shoto got engaged." She sighed. "I've been thinking about it more and more. I want to be with Katsu forever. I know that for sure. I want to build a life with him, have a house and our dog and maybe...who knows? Maybe a baby someday. But I don't know what he wants...well that's not entirely true. I know he wants to become a great hero." She chuckled. "But I don't know what he wants for _us_."  
Amal smiled, tapping her chin.  
To what degree should she be truthful?  
The truth was, April's concerns were valid, but Amal had received a very nervous phone call from Katsuki just a few days prior that rendered all April's concerns invalid. He had been at the jewelry store, in over his head. Amal had sent Shoto to help him.  
"I think that..." Amal said carefully and slowly. "Katsuki might surprise you." She smiled inwardly at the joke. "He's always doing that anyway, isn't he? Surprising you with how romantic or sweet he can actually be, how much he actually loves you and cares for you. Am I right?"  
April was silent, listening intently.  
"I think you underestimate just how much Katsuki pays attention to you. He notices a lot more than you give him credit for, I think." Amal nodded. "He's probably already picked up on your plans and wishes and dreams for the future." She looked at her friend and smiled softly. "Look, I know it's frustrating, having him never talk about what he wants for you two personally in the future. Shoto has been like that too, in the past. I think they're just the kinds of guys who don't really consider that sort of thing. They're just so focused upon improving themselves and being the best versions of themselves that they can be that they don't really consider anything else. But you need to remember that Katsuki cares for you. More than just about anything else, and _definitely_ more than any _one_ else. I think he wants to be with you just as much as you want to be with him forever. Just...give him some time. He'll come around."  
April smiled up at the stars, a warm, touched look in her eyes.  
"Thank you, Amal," she said genuinely and warmly. "Sometimes I wonder how I got blessed with an angel of a best friend."  
"I wonder that all the time," Amal said, bumping her mug of tea against her friend's in a toast.


	4. AOT Kingdom AU

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Attack on Titan Kingdom AU, based around a dream I had. I hope you enjoy <3

Amal wasn't certain what had awoken her when her eyes snapped open. It was still the middle of the night, as she could see a slice of silver moonlight cutting through the slight opening in the delicate violet curtains hung over her window. For a moment she allowed herself to be dazzled by the way the moonlight cut a smooth triangular slice across the bookshelves on the opposite wall from her bed, before realizing she was hearing a soft, repetitive noise coming from the vicinity of the window. 

She turned her head, the better to hear the noise, before she realized what it was. It was a sort of repetitive ding, ding, ding that sounded like someone tapping repeatedly upon a piece of glass... 

It was then that Amal realized what she was hearing. Someone was tapping at her window! 

Nervous, she drew her deep purple blankets around her form and gazed toward the window with wide, verdant eyes. No one outside the castle should be aware which window belonged to the princess, so the chances of it being some assassin or thief seeking to harm her seemed relatively slim, however, in the darkness of night with shadows clinging to the corners of her bedroom and mind, she could not stop her mind from racing to the worst of possibilities. 

She glanced about for some means of protection should the unbidden intruder find a way to enter the room. Finally spying a small black lantern sitting atop her bedside table, she reached out and wrapped her fingers around the handle. Rising slowly from her bed and flicking the lantern to life, she pressed the heels of her bare feet to the carefully polished wooden floors of her bedroom and crossed to the window. 

Her hand was shaking as she lifted it to part the curtain. Before opening it, however, her heart thumping wildly against her chest as though attempting to break free and escape, she had a moment's hesitation. 

Be brave, she told herself. If it is someone to be concerned about, you can cry for help. There should be guards outside. They will hear you. They will help. 

Emboldened by the thought, she suddenly whisked the curtain aside, hoping for a moment she would startle any miscreant standing outside... 

To see a familiar pair of luminous blue-green eyes gazing back at her through the window. 

Her fingers were on the latch of the window almost before she realized, and she unlatched the window with a soft click. 

"Eren?" She hissed into the night, gazing at the young man crouching on the windowsill, his eyes alight under his ruffled brunette hair, which was falling slightly into his eyes. 

Amal smiled inwardly, feeling a rush of warmth at Eren's presence. His hair was getting long again. April would start getting after him about getting it trimmed soon. 

"Hey," Eren said nonchalantly. 

He was dressed simpler than usual. Far from the gilded armor he wore during his working days, he instead donned a simple tan shirt with strings tied loosely at the neck and brown pants. His feet were bare. His muscled arms and legs flexed in the moonlight, tweaking a bit as they adjusted to keep him balanced. 

"What are you doing here?" Amal hissed, more surprised than angry. 

Eren smiled back, his lips lopsided. 

"Oh you know," he said nonchalantly. "Just was in the neighborhood and I decided to drop by." 

Amal rolled her eyes, but she was smiling. 

"In the middle of the night." 

"Okay, you've got me." 

Eren lifted the hand he wasn't using to hold himself to the windowsill to extend it toward her, palm out, in a gesture of mock acceptance of his fate. 

"I came to see you," he said, his lopsided grin returning. 

"You couldn't do that during the day? When I'm...awake?" 

Eren chuckled and Amal felt her heart grow heavy with happiness at the grin on his face. 

"C'mon," Eren said with a smile. "Where's your sense of adventure? Staying inside and sleeping during the night is boring. Night is when all the fun stuff happens. Besides. I wanted to show you something." 

"Oh? What's that?" 

Eren leaned forward, his face mere inches from her nose, eyes alight with mischief. 

"You'll just have to come with me and see, princess." 

 

"Eren, you didn't say we were coming here." 

The dark-haired girl and mischievous boy were standing outside a hill-like structure a considerable distance away from the castle, though still within the castle grounds. 

The fortress-like construction was built like a man-made hill, a massive mound of rich, dark soil fortified with strong metallic bricks. Open windows, nothing more than holes carefully dug into the sides of the mound, dotted the sides of the hill in uneven patterns. 

It looked like some sort of den, or hive. 

"We probably shouldn't be here at night, without April," Amal said, her voice barely even a whisper, barely discernible over the soft night breeze. 

Eren shrugged a shoulder. 

"Most of them are asleep," he said, taking a careful step toward the mound and eyeing the holes in the mound cautiously. 

"Yes, but what if one wakes up?" 

Amal trailed after Eren timidly. She had to admit, it was intriguing to see what the creatures were like after dark and when they were sleeping. She had only ever seen them when they were awake, and even then, she had only seen the two or three that the tamer had deemed friendly enough for interaction. 

"They won't," was Eren's simple answer from the short distance ahead. He was headed toward a gaping hole at ground-height, slightly larger than the window-like formations above. As Amal trailed after him, she saw deep wagonwheel tracks cut into the mud leading to the hole. It must have been a small trail meant to bring supplies to the creatures within the den. 

She trotted after Eren, shivering a little as he disappeared into the darkness of the entrance to the den. She couldn't shake the image he was getting swallowed by a massive mouth. 

The den was quiet as they entered. Inside, the den gave the appearance of having been dug by massive animals. It appeared entirely natural, the walls cut in uneven swipes. There were few of the entrance and exit holes dug on the ground floor, and far fewer in the first two or three stories than there were in the higher ones. 

"They're not fond of the ground," Amal remembered the tamer saying the first time she had visited this place, during the day. "They prefer to be up high, where they spend most of their time and where they can see everything that's going on. So they don't make their nests or homes on the first few levels and definitely not on the ground level. Makes them feel too vulnerable. If they didn't have to rest, they'd never come out of the sky." 

As Amal entered and peered up, she could see a pinprick above where the mound grew to a single elevated point, a hole in the top allowing a trickle of moonlight to filter down. 

The floor of the den was covered in detritus. There were splintered animal bones and (to Amal's disgust) smears of crimson blood and what looked horribly like dragon dung. As she passed a small pile of this, she noted that it did not have a bad scent, but it was very warm. Flecks of hay littered the ground, probably the result of the nests and beds being built by the creatures in the alcoves above. 

Between the holes in the higher stories of the den, she could see small alcoves dug here and there in the walls, cozy little lopsided ovals and circles. 

Her breath caught. It was actually a beautiful sight. 

From each of the alcoves flickered a different-colored light. Blue, green, pink, yellow. They flickered in rhythm, almost like breath or a heartbeat. Together, the lights gave the interior of the den the appearance of a hive of rainbow-hued fireflies. Peering closer, Amal could see the light came from large white mushrooms growing from the walls of the den. They dripped water softly as they glowed. 

As Amal turned, gazing in awe at the brilliance of the cavern, she heard Eren chuckle. 

"I knew you'd like it." 

Amal turned to see Eren gazing at her, his eyes soft. He was standing beneath one of the alcoves four stories above him, and a soft blue glow flickered across his face in a steady rhythm. He was smiling. 

"Have you been here before? When it was like this?" Amal asked, stepping toward him, warmth filling her chest. 

Eren nodded and looked up at the glowing alcoves, his eyes soft with wonder. 

"Yeah. Just twice. Don't tell April though, she'd murder me." 

Suddenly, there was a soft snuffling noise. Alarmed, Amal turned toward the sound and felt her heart thud in her chest when she saw a pair of glowing ember eyes glaring at them. 

Eren was at her side in an instant, his hand on her shoulder. She turned her head slightly to see him gazing toward the beast glaring across the den. 

"Don't make any sudden movements," he said softly. "Don't frighten it. Don't talk too loud." 

The eyes belonged to a dragon, a great scaly beast with shining white scales that darkened to blue at the ends. It had horns on its head that appeared like glittering icicles, and as it shifted to see them better Amal caught sight of great pale blue wings folded tightly across its back, glowing an eerie green from the glow of the alcove it had been resting in. 

The softer scales of the dragon's neck and belly were an icy blue in color and its talons, which were curved to grip the edge of the alcove, appeared to be ice, just as the horns upon its head were. The dragon gave a small sound that almost seemed like a burp from a human. Amal would have laughed were she not so frightened. 

"What the hell," Amal jumped as a voice echoed around the den. "Are you two doing here?" 

 

Amal bit her lip as a pair of thin legs appeared next to the ice dragon and a human propped herself on the edge of the alcove, swinging her legs and glaring down at them as she leaned against the leg of the dragon. A small lizard-like creature with scales that were black at the base and silver at the ends and glowing red eyes rested upon her shoulder, the end of its long tail draped over her other shoulder. It was watching them with the same disdain as its furious human companion. 

"April!" Eren plastered a grin upon his face. "Uh, hi!" 

April, a blue-eyed girl with her brunette hair tied into a tight ponytail at the back of her head, glared down at the pair of them from her perch. 

"I'll repeat my question," she said sternly. "What the hell are you two doing, bothering my babies while we're all supposed to be asleep?" 

"That's a question I should be asking you," Eren said sternly, as though attempting to catch April in her own trap, but April just sniffed. 

"Fahrah here is in labor," she said, patting the ice dragon's side. The massive creature gave a low, anguished grunt and turned her snaky head from the commotion on the ground level, returning to the alcove with a hiss. Her tail appeared to flick over the side of the alcove, hanging out. Amal could see icicle-like spikes on the end. "I'm here to help her lay the egg in peace. But that shouldn't matter because I work here. What's less evident is why you two are here." 

Eren rubbed his neck nervously. "Uh, we were just-" 

"Get out!" April snapped, her eyes flashing. "Before I come down there and kick you both out myself!" 

Both Amal and Eren flinched back at her biting words. With one stammered apology, Eren took Amal's hand and they ran from the den. Behind them, Amal could head April murmuring to the pained dragon. A low, mournful howl followed them out. 

 

"What the hell were you thinking, you moron?" 

"I was just-" 

"Let me answer that for you. You weren't thinking. Taking Amal, the princess, into a hive of sleeping dragons in the middle of the night? Have you lost your mind? Let me answer that for you too, dung-for-brains, yes, you have lost your mind." 

Amal bit her lip as she overheard April admonishing Eren in the next room. 

It was the next day. After returning Amal to her room, Eren had lingered, nervously apologizing for drawing her away from her room in the middle of the night and for getting them caught, before disappearing down the hall without waiting for her response. Amal felt awful, not just for Eren, who seemed embarrassed and guilty, but for April as well. 

"I just wanted to show Amal how pretty the place is at night." 

"Did you even stop to think about the consequences of that?" 

April was hissing under her breath, as though trying to hide their conversation from Amal, but her emotion was too high. She might as well have been speaking. 

"Look," April seemed to soften and Amal felt her shoulders loosen. Maybe she was calming down. "I understand that you wanted to show Amal a beautiful sight. And I know the dragon's den is a gorgeous place at night. Believe me, I appreciate it just as much as you do. But those are wild animals in there, Eren. Every single one of those creatures has fangs, and talons, and breathes fire, or ice, or poison. They are nearly perfect hunters and when they're angry, they will not hesitate to use any of those offenses. And you want to know what makes a dragon angry?" 

Amal got the sensation April was ticking things off on her fingers as she spoke next. 

"Humans, or any being, with an unfamiliar smell intruding upon their territory. That same being doing so in the middle of the night. And on top of that, in the dragon's den, where there are eggs and young. But you didn't stop to consider that for a second, did you?" 

"April, I'm sor-" 

"Don't you give me that. You put Amal and yourself into real danger without even pausing to consider the consequences." 

There was a deep breath and April sighed. 

"Eren. I love you. You're my brother. But you have to understand that you can't keep doing this. You have to stop and think before you do something like this or you're going to end up hurting, or worse, someone we really care about. And that includes yourself. I...I don't mean to yell at you...I'm just worried." 

There was silence. Amal bit her lip. 

"I'm sorry, April," came Eren's voice next, and Amal felt a sad weight in her heart at the sound in his voice. He sounded like he was choking, like he was about to cry. He never would have shown that emotion in front of her. "I didn't mean to make you worry and I never want anyone to get hurt. You're right, I didn't think. I didn't think for a second that we'd be in danger because I always...I always think that you've got the dragons under control, that you'd never let them hurt us, but...you're right, you don't control them. You don't own them, they work with us and I never...I need to respect that." 

"Yes, you do." 

"I just got so excited..." 

There was a shuffling sound, and Amal realized April must have embraced Eren. 

"I know, Eren. And I forgive you. I just care about you and Amal so much, and I care about my dragons so much, and I think all of you need to be protected and respected. And I want you to take care of yourself. And Amal." 

Amal heard Eren sigh as there was another shuffling sound. They must have broken away from the embrace. 

"I'll be more careful," Eren said, and Amal could hear the conviction in his voice. She believed him, and she hoped April did as well. "I want to take care of Amal, and you. I want to keep you safe. That's my job, as a knight." 

April chuckled quietly. 

"Focus on taking care of yourself and Amal," she said gently. "I want to have you both around for my wedding." 

"You have my word."


End file.
